Questions Surround BP's Safety Record

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In the world when powerful corporations and government collide, corporations usually win the day. And that's because they exert their influence through campaign contributions and lobbying pressure to relax rules that should apply to them.

The BP oil leak on the Deepwater Horizon has passed the six-week mark and continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Many are now asking how the company continually received permission to drill with 760 safety violations.

The Minerals Management Service's (MMS) system of granting oil companies permits to drill involves auctions in which the companies submit bids to drill. After the oil companies submit their bids, which include plans regarding how they will go about drilling, the MMS then has 30 days to either approve or disapprove the bid. But did the MMS overlook BP's egregious number of safety violations by continually granting them permission to drill? We talk with the director of Public Citizen's Energy Program, Tyson Slocum about the questionable decisions made by the MMS.